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It’s really not that hard to figure out what qualities we should work on to become a better friend. God gave us a list of qualities we should live by in Galatians 5:22-23, which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Everything I touch on in this article is based on this passage, as you will see, so let’s proceed. 1. Be genuine and kind. Being genuine and kind are two very important traits people look for in friends. Admit it, no one likes snobby people who are condescending and sarcastic (or anything of the sorts). That’s completely uncool. If your friend is like that, BY NO MEANS retort with the same attitude. Kill ‘em with kind-
your friends’ views and opinions, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is when you disrespect their opinions, and condemn or judge them for it just because they don’t agree with you. Never EVER try shoving your opinion down people’s throats. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions and we should respect that. They may never change, so just pray for them, be supportive where you can and accept them for who they are.
2. Be humble and forgiving. It’s easier said than done, but it’s SUPER vital to a strong friendship. When you go through thick and thin, you’re bound to run into some kind of conflict. Always try to be humble, acknowledge where you are wrong, and apologize sincerely. No one likes friends who hold grudges and remember every single little incident when people have wronged them. Never let your ego prevent you from repairing a 6. Be an energy giver. friendship. There are four types of people: a) energy givers – optimistic, 3. Be patient. cheerful people who can put a Patience is one of the most impor- smile on a sad face. tant qualities we should all work b) energy drainers – pessimistic, on. Being a patient person not only self-centered people who suck all reduces conflict, it’s also a building of the happy out of every poor soul block that constructs a feeling of who tries to cheer them up. security and trust. You can never c) energy hoarders – those who go wrong with having lots of pa- only take and never give, and are tience! always needy. d) energy time bombs – those who 4. Listen. keep to themselves, but when they Something about having a friend do open up, it’s the last straw, and who’s a great listener is extremely WWIII is about to break out. comforting, even if they don’t always know what to say. There’s It’s quite self-explanatory why we just this sense of freedom people should all try to be energy givers. feel after they’ve spilled their And no, I don’t mean being happyhearts out, so definitely lend an go-lucky or overly optimistic about ear when you can. An important everything! I’m talking about lookthing to remember is that if people ing at life realistically, yet having a trust you enough to open up to you positive outlook. If you’ve encounand tell you personal things, use tered type b, c or d, you’d know your common sense. Don't tell oth- that they are dangerous types to er people about it without permis- be around, and are not good friend sion. material. You can never be sure if your day will be ruined in an in5. Be supportive and accepting. stant. Terrible feeling, isn’t it? ConYou may not always agree with clusion: Be an energy giver.
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7. What would Jesus do? (How to deal with drama and problems) We all know someone who drains us emotionally by just talking. They test our patience big time, so what do we do about them? There isn’t much you can actually DO about it that will change their behavior, but you CAN pray for them. Be patient. Let God do his thing! In the meantime, treat them with kindness and be forgiving. And like I said in point 1, don’t try fixing people by giving them a taste of their own medicine. That method rarely works, and often causes more conflict. Causing more conflict intentionally isn’t something that we – as Christians – should be doing because it results in nonChristians to come to the conclusion that we are no better than them, so why should they convert? To reiterate, simply pray. DO NOT USE SILLY METHODS TO TRY FIXING PEOPLE!! Leave it to God to do the fixing-up. 8. Be compassionate, but know when to put your foot down. What do you do when your friend’s incredibly upset, but you don’t want to throw a pity party? Be supportive and compassionate, but don’t be their doormat. Doormatfriends may make nice people to rant and rave and run crying to, but they’re practically kicked to the curb when everything in their friends' life is going smoothly. In short, doormat friends = people who get used. You do not want to be used, trust me. If you find yourself being used, put your foot down! It’s okay to say no to being used. 9. Speak the truth with LOVE! In the event of discovering that you have become the dreaded doormat-friend, you must put your foot down. HOWEVER, you must pro-
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ceed with caution. The proper method is to tell them the truth, but with love. There’s no point confronting the friend and saying, “You’re a jerk and I hate being used by you!” This does not solve the issue, but creates more contention. It’s extremely difficult for people to accept the cold, hard truth. Yes, sometimes people need to be slapped in the face with reality to come to their senses, but we should still strive to speak the truth with love at all times. Ephesians 4:11-16 demonstrates this principle. Specifically in verse 15, “…speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” 10. Build trust and be loyal. NEVER backstab! I personally believe that trust is the heart of the friendship. If you don’t trust each other, the friendship will surely fail. It takes time to build trust, but so very easy to destroy it in the blink of an eye. Gossiping and rumoring are the biggest causes for broken friendships. When friends trust you with information, you should keep it to yourself. However, it is vital to be able to decipher exactly when you should reach out for help from others. As for backstabbing, it's obvious that no good friend does it. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends." It is completely illogical to go around telling people dirt about your friend (who trusted you to keep it to yourself) yet expect the friendship to stand. Real friends have each other's backs, not stab each other! Once you've backstabbed someone, it's basically impossible to regain full trust. Never, ever backstab someone.
So that’s ten ways to be a better friend! I’m definitely not the most amazing friend ever so this is probably quite biased, but I do try to be the best I can be. I hope this has opened your eyes or helped you in some way!
Verse of the Week By Jennica Wlodarczyk Today I’m going to talk to you about a very well-known verse. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This ties in so well to the giving aspect of Christmas. As followers of Christ, we’re supposed to not only do as He says, but follow in His footsteps and live life as He would have. God not only gave a gift to all of mankind, but He gave the best gift He ever could. He gave His Son to us. He gave us the true promise of life, one that can’t be compromised and one that will never fail. It’s because He gave us Jesus that we are to give to others. We give in many ways; giving presents, love, and time at Christmas are just a few ways that we can give as He did. Think about it. Instead of giving presents because that’s what we do at Christmastime, remember why we celebrate the season, and remember that it all started the most precious gift of all. So when you give or receive this Christmas season, remember how the tradition started. It started when God gave us His perfect life.
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Noah's Random Movie Review of the Week The Hunger Games: Catching Fire A Movie Review By Noah Penner (BC Consumer Protection Classification: Rated PG. Several scenes of violence depicting shooting, beating, stabbing and/or electrocution. One instance of coarse language.) Well, you can probably imagine my horror when I saw Jesse's review of Catching Fire. "No! How could he? That was supposed to be my next review!" Add to that being unable to see the film for several weeks, and I feared I may have to skip straight to the just-released second Hobbit movie. Yet fear not, as I have just seen it only days before it left our local theatre for good! So, keeping to my word, and ignoring that *other* review that may have been published some time ago, here's my thoughts on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. You probably know the basic background of the film's story already (although I don't recommend seeing this one if you haven't seen the first): In the semi-futuristic nation of Panem, 24 teens are chosen every year to fight to the death in a competition known as the titular Hunger Games. The story in Catching Fire picks up some time after the first one, with the characters who survived dealing with the emotional consequences of their victory. The world of Panem is explored much more in this film than the last, and the technology is much more realistic. Gone are the "anime cops" look, replaced with a
more realistic uniform, and submachine guns that actually exist. The technology of Panem is also further explored, opening us new ideas as to how this world came to be. While the first film left me wondering why Panem is a dystopia anyway, Catching Fire showcases it well, improving the film as a result. As the film progresses, it becomes apparent that Panem is on the verge of violent revolution, and that the government is willing to resort to drastic measures to prevent it. This results in the next
Hunger Games focusing solely on past victors fighting each other, a clearly non-survivable situation since everybody is already experienced. The script channels this perfectly, showing the anger among the population, the hopelessness and desperation among the characters, and the strange cooperation between tributes when the games actually begin. Fortunately, despite having a higher budget than the first film, Catching Fire is not "Hollywood-ized" like I feared it would be. The shaky camera may be gone, but the charac-
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ters are still exposed to as much grit as in the first film. There are no airbrushed faces and movie-magic moments here; the characters are still thrown into horrible situations, covered in dirt, sweat, and second-degree burns. Even before the arena scenes, the characters deal with uncomfortable yet realistic issues, like having to serve as puppets for the tyrannical government, and suering from posttraumatic stress disorder. I appreciated this one in particular, since it seems obvious that anybody thrown into such circumstances wouldn't get out so easy. Unfortunately, for some reason, whenever Jennifer Lawrence acts like she is suering a horrible flashback, it seems awkward and stilted. This contrasts pretty much all the other acting in the film, which is quite good. The aforementioned Jennifer Lawrence successfully beats post-Best Actress Oscar syndrome to deliver another great performance, and others like Josh Hutcherson and Donald Sutherland do
great as well. I found Hutcherson's acting to be a standout, since his character is taken in some new directions, and he handles them well. The selection of other tributes was a little disappointing, since they follow the typical formulas of "the techie guy" and "the camouflage guy," instead of becoming more unique characters in of themselves. Yet as the film progressed I didn't feel this was as much of an issue; the acting and script were good enough to gain some sympathy. My only other complaint about the film would be that there is too much screen time with the character of Gale; I would've found it much more unique and interesting if he and Katniss were simply comrades-inarms, not potential lovers as the film suggests. While there is a little bit of symbolism behind it (Gale represents home, Peeta represents the games), these scenes are genuinely boring, and really don't add much to the film as is. The clihanger ending to the film is
also worth mentioning; while abrupt, considering what is revealed in these final moments of the story, the film feels complete, while also establishing the next two films in the series. Overall, as a sequel to a surprisingly-good film, (and having never read the books myself) Catching Fire is a well-crafted, well-made movie that is not just as good as it's predecessor, but better is some ways. If this is the kind of entertainment teenagers are going to be viewing, go for it. It's smart, thoughtful, and appropriately realistic. Although the film is ending it's run in mainstream theatres, I'd recommend giving it a watch somehow in the near future. Who knows? In 50 years, it might be the next Nineteen Eighty-Four. Three and a half out of four stars. Is it just me or has 2013 been a very good year for movies? Next review is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
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Homeschooled Fanboy by Joshua Wlodarczyk
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